Variable-power drive.



E. HASH. VMHABLE POWER DRH/E. APPLICATION man Nin/.21, i915.

"narran srarias entrenar i iinwann nnsri, or sr. PAUL, Minnesota.

f vamente-POWER DRIVE.

:To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, Enwarn Has'ri, a citizen of the United States,`and aresident of St. `Paul, in the county of Ramsey and `fitate of`lvlinnesota, have invented `certain new anduseful Improvements inVariablelower Drives, of which the following is aspecication. i

Uneobject'of my invention is tof provide means for varying the powerratio in a power drive. i d Y Another object of my'invention is toprovide in a driving member havingl "wed-ge members i thereon, 1 meansfor varying the angle of application of the wedgemember. Another' objectof Vmyinvention is 4to provide a power wheel having wedge membersthereon, and means for applying the wedge members to the thread of aworm thatis cut or laid bythe wedge members themselves.

lVitli these and incidental objectsinview, the invention consists ofcertain'novelfeatures of construction and combination of parts, theessential elements of which are hereinafter described -withreference tothe drawing which accompanies and forms a part of this specification..1

Figure l is a plan view partly in sectionof an ice boat to which myimproved variable power drive is applied. f

VFig. 2 is a side elevation of the same boat. Fig. 3 is asidel'elevation of'my variable power drive applied to a speed boat, andlfig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of a modification of one of thepower wheels.

T he body 1, F ig.1, of the ice boat to which my variable power drive isapplied, has suitably mounted thereon an internal combustion engine 2,or any suitable source of power.

Driven through the bevel gear transmission 3 by shafts 4t and 5 are twopower wheels 6 and 7, respectively.

rl`he shaft 5 is connected by a universal joint 8 to the shaft 9 drivendirectly by the bevel gear 10 to bring the drive of the wheel 7 in thesame horizontal plane as that of the wheel 6.

The wheels 6 and 7 are driven forwardly, and when starting the wedgemembers 11 give traction to the wheels and serve to pro pel the boatforward in the direction shown by the arrow 12, although it will beunderstood that the wedge members 11 will cut and break up the ice onaccount of the angular position of the wheels 6 and 7.

y i i sgeciacatierof Letters referir; l Patented Nov. 2U, 191'?,Application filed November 2*?, 1916. Serial No. 133,782. i

As the boat getslunder way, and hence there is less power required tokeepit in motion, the wedge members 11 will-act in an entirely differentmanner, which can best ze illustrated by reference to the well knownaction of a worm and worm gear.

,When the boat is under way, the wheels Sand 7 arev to be considered asworm gears, meshing with portions of worm threads, which are actuallycut into the surfacev of 4the ice on which the boat rides, by the wedgemembers 1l. i

lV hen a wedge member 11 has cut its ine dividual thread in the ice, andthe wheel is still turning in a forward direction, a pressure will beexerted between the wedge member 11 and the side of the worm thread cutin the ice, and as the coethcient of friction between the steel wedgemembers and the ice is extremely low, the wedge members will slidein theice instead of breaking their way out as they did in starting.

. This causes the wheelsG and 7, which are still to be considered asworm gears to travel along the worin threads cut in the ice, and as theworm, which is the ice itself, cannot turn, `these wedge members willslide forwardly as the wheels revolve. 1

` As theangle of inclination of the wedge members to the center line ofthe boatmay be varied, it is readily seen that when the boat is underwayon a surface having practically no friction, the boat will bepropelled forward at a high rate of speed with a low rate of revolutionspeed of the wheels 6 and 7.

The shafts 10 and Ll, F ig. 1, are supported by brackets 13 and 14,respectively, which are carried by the king bolt 15.

The bearings 16 held in place by suitable collars 17 pinned to theshafts, carry by hinged connections the links 18, which in turn arehinged to the member 19, which is slidably mounted on the guide rod :20.

By sliding the member 19 forward or backward on the bar 20, it isevident that the angular position of the wheels 6 and 7, and also theangular position of the wedge members 1l carried thereon, may be varied,and the speed of the boat thus varied without increasing or decreasingthe speed at which the wheels 6 and 7 turn.

Fig. 3 shows the power drive as applied to a motor boat, and as thecoefficient of friction between water and the plates 21 will be veryslight, it is evident that a similar result Will Ybe obtained in Waterasmupon ice, and in either of the applicationgthe speed may beregulatedbyffpositieningE theA and the member 19 controlling.the-position of the member 19.

V,In Fig 4 L show i means for 'adj ustingivthe angularposition 4of theWedgemembers:il without ichanging the l:angular position lof .the Wheel.

In this.constructionl preferg-toI have'the spokes 25 slidablywmou-ntedinV the hub-26 .andwutilize fa 1spring-27 refacting ybetween ,the-riinlQS .and the collar- 29v 'tol maintain. the tensionof ,the wedgeVmember 1lV againstthe rim 28. Journaledz onithe hub-26 isaring--=30r1 towhich is hinged at 3l projections-32-cai= riedbythe spokes Thesupport'.our- `naled .mythe-shaft V4l ybetween the collar 34 andfthe hub-26hashinged thereonia rbelll crank fcontrolled' by a V'suitable linkw, andhingedmt the other end ylo the ring 30. It "is evident `from.the-drawinglthatza movementvoffy theflever 36 W-ill slidethe ring 30-inor out 'from the spoles,fandaetl1efprojections p32 :Aare i normally-set E at i' an 1 zung-le, preferably otr-45. degrees -to the: shaft-.4,the motionof the ring-'30 MWill l turn= :the wedge membersiangularly onthe` rim y28 of "the Wheel.

.Glaims: 4

y.1. Inaa Variableipowerrdrive the-com'bination of a rotatingmember-'mounted'for rotation fon'' an laxis; positionablefat Ian acuteangle r lwith :the :direction uof the line' 'oi Athe to'rwardsfmotionlof theobject to ivhichrthe powerfdriveuis applied, AWedge members :carriedafon: said rotating ,-melnberzandl adapted to travel over asubstantially what surface to Yxvhithmthe device is applied, and meansfor -varyi-rrg-f'tbie 4'miglrlarposition of said Wedge members Withrespect to the line of the for- Ward "motion of the object to which thepowerdrive is applied.

Ima-variable power drive thecombination.ofra-drrveA-Wheel mounted forrotation on an axis positioned at an acuteangle with the line of theforWardmot-ioirof the device' -to `which thedrive -isapplied,4Wedgefmembers 'Carried -by: said I drivefxvheel,means fionvaryfpezidicuflar to the flongitudinal aXis of. the

vehicle, 4wedge:members onsaid drive:meinber :serving as tecthvoffa4Wormgear .and

adapted: toucuo the thread. of i a Worm-A infthe surface:onov'hichsaidfNehicle travels so that said-=wedgeg1nenibers co'-act saidfthread'.

f4.1: In fa lvariable power `drive zthereomf bina-tion f with:i1-:movable Yvehicle :of alpriime mover, a retatalble @dri-ve lmeinberadapted to1fbe-fdriven :by-said prime mover :and rotated in2- ai fpleneat: anf-` angle with the plane perpendicular F1to1-:the` :longitudinalaxis of the vehicle, Wedge i membersuon said i dri-ve member serving as@teeth of a @Worm 'gear and adapted to cut-theihreadlfoff-awuorm-in the{surace on which ff-sazd f vehicle f travels so dthatsaidwedge members,co-,ace Withsa'id thread, and meansforlvaryingxthe alignlanitywofsa-id'weclge members Withfrespect Y tothe:longitudinalaxisefzthe vehicle.. .yl

- EDWARD IHASTI.

copies dt'fthis; patent imayA hie-'obtained l'for l"five `cents each;byeddrerssing the' 'Comniissionermt; raient,

WahixxgtonfJJJC. Y 4

